Beverage container equipped with with straw

ABSTRACT

A beverage container equipped with a straw includes a straw that is arranged within the container so that the straw pops up automatically when the container is being opened; the straw includes a buoyant member and an accordion section above its buoyant member; the beverage container further includes, at its upper end, a guiding means for guiding the straw, when the container is being opened, substantially in the same direction as the longitudinal axis of the container, for fixing the upper end of the straw in the state of storage of the container, and for limiting the extent of emersion of the straw. 
     The straw, which is adapted to pop up automatically from a beverage container, includes a buoyant member, an upper portion above the buoyant member, an accordion section arranged along the upper portion and suitable for extending in an accordion-like manner, and a lower portion of fixed length arranged underneath the buoyant member; the length of the buoyant member is at least the half, preferably at least the two third of the entire length of the straw having a collapsed accordion section associated with the initial state thereof; and the length of the lower portion is at most 5% of the entire length of the straw associated with the initial state thereof.

The present invention generally relates to a beverage container equipped with a straw. More particularly, the present invention relates to a beverage container within which a pop-up straw is arranged that emerges automatically when the container is being opened.

Beverage cans, in particular the paper containers of reduced size that are used for storing a liquid volume of approximately 200-300 ml, which are packaged together with a straw, have been widely used nowadays. To this end, the simplest solution is to package the straw in a thin packaging material and subsequently to fix the packaged straw to the beverage can from outside, typically by gluing. However, several other solutions are also known, wherein the straw is arranged within a can or a bottle before or after the filling thereof with the beverage, and this kind of straw is formed to pop up automatically from the can or the bottle when the can or the bottle is being opened.

The beverage can or bottle of the above mentioned type is disclosed, for example, in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,187. FIGS. 3 and 4 of this document illustrate a bottle for beverages within which a straw is arranged that pops up from the bottle automatically when being opened. The straw has a buoyant member to which a buoyant force is exerted by the liquid in the bottle, and both above and under the buoyant member the straw further has a rigid upper portion and a lower portion, respectively, wherein at least a section of said lower portion is formed in an accordion-like manner to be extendible and flexible. This straw emerges automatically from the bottle filled up with the liquid when the bottle is being opened, due to the buoyant force exerted to the buoyant member. A drawback of this arrangement is, however, that as the level of the liquid lowers, the upper portion of the straw gradually sinks back to the bottle, and below a certain level of liquid it may even entirely return into the bottle, which makes it difficult to withdraw the straw from the bottle by hand. A further drawback of this solution is that the consumer must keep holding the straw while the level of liquid is lowering so that it does not sink back into the bottle. Finally, it is a further drawback of the above mentioned solution is that when the bottle is being opened, the straw emerges from the bottle substantially in an unguided way, and after releasing the straw, the upper portion of the straw, depending on the diameter of the mouth of the bottle, can move within a relatively large angular range, which may require the consumer, who is holding the bottle in his one hand, to use also his other hand to move the upper end of the straw to his mouth.

The object of the present invention is to eliminate to foregoing drawbacks and to provide a beverage container, in particular a beverage can or bottle, equipped with a straw that has a simple design, that may be manufactured at little cost in great quantities and that may be used in an easier and more convenient manner compared to the prior art solutions.

The invention is based on the recognition that the above mentioned drawbacks may be easily eliminated by guiding the upper portion of the straw arranged above the buoyant member and by forming said upper portion in an extendible manner.

These objects are achieved by providing a beverage container equipped with a straw, wherein said straw is arranged within the container so that the straw pops up automatically when the container is being opened, said straw comprising a buoyant member and an accordion section above said buoyant member. The beverage container further comprises, at its upper end, a guiding means for guiding the straw, when the container is being opened, substantially in the same direction as the longitudinal axis of the container, said guiding means being further adapted to fix the upper end of the straw in the state of storage of the container and to limit the extent of emersion of the straw

The above objects are further achieved by providing a straw adapted to pop up automatically from a beverage container, said straw comprising a buoyant member, an upper portion above said buoyant member, an accordion section arranged along the upper portion and suitable for extending in an accordion-like manner, and a lower portion of fixed length arranged underneath the buoyant member. The length of the buoyant member is at least the half, preferably at least the two third of the entire length of the straw having a collapsed accordion section associated with the initial state thereof, and the length of the lower portion is at most 5% of the entire length of the straw associated with the initial state thereof.

The invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

FIGS. 1 a to 1 c illustrate sectional views of the beverage container equipped with a straw, taken along the longitudinal axis of the container, in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the invention, in a state of storage of the bottle (FIG. 1 a), at the upmost end position of the straw after opening the bottle (FIG. 1 b), and at the lowest end position of the straw with a partly or entirely emptied bottle (FIG. 1 c);

FIGS. 2 a to 2 c illustrate sectional views of the beverage container equipped with a straw, taken along the longitudinal axis of the container, in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the invention, in a state of storage of the bottle (FIG. 2 a), at the upmost end position of the straw after opening the bottle (FIG. 2 b), and at the lowest end position of the straw with a partly or entirely emptied bottle (FIG. 2 c);

FIGS. 3 a to 3 c illustrate sectional views of the beverage container equipped with a straw, taken along the longitudinal axis of the container, in accordance with a third preferred embodiment of the invention, in a state of storage of the bottle (FIG. 3 a), at the upmost end position of the straw after opening the bottle (FIG. 3 b), and at the lowest end position of the straw with a partly or entirely emptied bottle (FIG. 3 c), respectively.

In FIGS. 1 a to 1 c, the beverage container equipped with a straw according to the invention is illustrated in three different states in sectional views taken along the longitudinal axis of the container, which is a plastic bottle 10 in this example. The bottle 10 shown in FIGS. 1 a to 1 c comprises a body 11, a base 12, a neck portion 13 and a mouth 17. Within the bottle 10 there is provided a straw 14 that emerges automatically from the bottle 10 when the bottle 10 containing a beverage D is being opened 10, said straw 14 having an upper portion 14 a which can be extended by means of an accordion section 14 b thereof, a buoyant member 14 c and a lower portion 14 d. On the mouth 17 of the bottle 10, a preferably flat inset 15 having a central through-hole is mounted from outside, wherein said inset 15 is adapted to guide the straw 14 emerging from the bottle 10 when the bottle is being opened, in such a way that the straw 14 emerges substantially in the same direction as the longitudinal axis of the bottle 10. The diameter of the through-hole of the inset 15 exceeds the outer diameter of the buoyant member 14 c of the straw 14 to a minimum extent, typically by several tenths of a millimeter, thus allowing the insertion of the straw 14 into the bottle 10 through the hole of said inset 15 after the filling of the bottle 10, whereas during a later use, the relatively narrow through-hole prevents the straw 14 from its entire ejection due to that the upper end of the buoyant member 14 c of the straw 14 is blocked by the lower edge of the through-hole at the bottom of the inset 15. Consequently, the extent of the emersion of the straw 14 is limited. In the special case, where the central axis of the straw 14 was aligned, at the moment of emerge, with the central axis of the through-hole serving as the guiding means, the straw 14 would be entirely ejected, that is the buoyant member 14 c would more or less emerge from the bottle 10, but in practice, this situation hardly ever arises due to the narrow diameter of the through-hole.

As shown in FIG. 1 a, in the state of storage of the bottle 10, when the bottle 10 containing the beverage D is closed by a cap 16, for example, the upper end 14 e of the straw 14 is inserted into the through-hole of the inset 15 serving as the guiding means, thus the upper end 14 e of the straw 14 is substantially fixed in the state of storage of the bottle 10. In this state of storage, the bottle 10 is sealed by the cap 16, for example by a threaded cap.

As shown in FIG. 1 b, after opening the bottle 10, i.e. after removing the cap 16 in this case, the straw 14 emerges automatically from the bottle 10 through the inset 15 due to the buoyant force exerted by the beverage D to the buoyant member 14 c. With respect to the fact that the diameter of the through-hole of the inset 15 serving as the guiding means is approximately the same as the outer diameter of the buoyant member 14 c (or preferably larger than the latter by several tenths of a millimeter as mentioned above), and to the fact that the length of the through-hole of the inset 15 is such that the straw 14 can be moved in the hole only in a direction substantially identical to the longitudinal axis of the bottle 10, it is achieved that the straw 14 emerges from the bottle 10 in a guided manner and after its emersion, the straw 14 always extends in the same direction. At the upper end position of the straw 14, due to the practically limited emersion of the straw 14, only the upper portion 14 a projects from the bottle 10, whereas the buoyant member 14 c remains inside the bottle 10.

When the level of liquid L in the bottle 10 lowers so much that the straw 14 starts moving down, the upper portion 14 a of the straw 14 may be extended by expanding the accordion section 14 b to an extent that as the level of liquid L lowers further, even until the bottle 10 gets entirely empty, a substantially long section of the straw projects from the bottle 10 that the consumer can move to his mouth. This state is shown in FIG. 1 c.

The straw construction used for the beverage container according to the invention will now be described. The buoyant member 14 c of the straw 14 is formed as an air-containing cell of cylindrical ring shape, the inner wall of which is defined by the wall of the suction channel of the straw 14, whereas its outer wall is defined by another wall arranged concentrically with said inner wall. The outer wall and the inner walls of the buoyant member 14 c are connected to each other at the upper and the lower ends of the buoyant member 14 c so that they air-tightly seal the space enclosed thereby. The length of the buoyant member 14 c is significant relative to the entire length of the straw 14, preferably at least the half, more preferably at least the two third of the entire length of the straw 14 being in its initial state. In this context, the initial state of the straw 14 is defined as the state in which the straw has a collapsed accordion section 14 b. As shown in FIGS. 1 a to 1 c, the entire length of the straw 14 in its initial state is so that when the straw 14 is oriented in the direction of ejection, it may be accommodated within the closed bottle 10 (or in the container, in general).

The length of the lower portion 14 d of the straw 14 is, however, at most 5% of the entire length of the straw being in its initial state. In an alternative embodiment of the straw (not shown), the length of the lower portion 14 d is virtually zero, that is the lower end of the straw is defined by the lower end of the buoyant member.

Due to the above mentioned construction, that is to the relatively very short lower portion 14 d and the relatively long buoyant member 14 c, the buoyant force effecting to the straw 14 holds the straw 14 in an entirely ejected position until the level of liquid L of the beverage D in the bottle 10 decreases significantly. The upper end position of the straw 14 is defined by the inset 15 serving as a guiding means in a manner that the upper end of the buoyant member 14 c is blocked by the edge of the through-hole at the bottom of the inset 15.

Although in the embodiments described above, the stem of the straw and, accordingly, the buoyant member of the straw have a cylindrical shape, the cross-sectional profile of the straw may obviously has any other shape, like an ellipse, a square or the similar. Thus the through-hole of the guiding means of the container may have not only circular shape, but any other shape corresponding to the cross-sectional profile of the straw, however, the through-hole should be wider than the cross-sectional area of the straw only to a minimum extent.

In FIGS. 2 a to 2 c, second embodiment of the beverage container equipped with a straw according to the invention is illustrated in three different states in sectional views taken along the longitudinal axis of the container. FIG. 2 a illustrates a bottle 20 wherein a straw 24 that has the same design as the straw 14 shown in FIGS. 1 a to 1 c is arranged within the bottle 20 and fixed by a cap 26, preferably by a threaded cap, in the state of storage of the bottle 20, wherein the upper end 24 e of the straw 24 is inserted into a through-hole formed at the center of the cap 26. In the second embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 2 a to 2 c, the inset 15 used for the first embodiment is not applied, because in this case, the means for guiding and fixing the straw 24 in its state of storage is formed by the cap 26 itself. For an airtight sealing of the bottle 20 in the state of storage, a sticker 28 adhered to the upper side of the cap 26 may be used, for example. Preferably, the sticker 28 may be re-adhered several times.

In FIG. 2 b, the bottle 20 according to the second embodiment is shown in a situation after the sticker has been torn and removed, when the straw 24 pops up automatically through the hole of the cap 26 in response to the buoyant force exerted by the liquid in the bottle 20.

FIG. 2 c shows the bottle 20 according to the second embodiment, when due to a decrease of the level of liquid L, the accordion section 24 b of the straw 24 has been extended so that the upper portion 24 a of the straw 24 projects from the bottle 20 to the necessary extent.

In the second embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 2 a to 2 c, the diameter of the through-hole formed in the cap 26 of the bottle 20 is the same as the diameter of the central hole of the inset 15 used for the first embodiment, which allows for the straw 24 to be pushed into the bottle, while this arrangement is suitable for guiding the straw 24 and for limiting the extent of the emersion.

In FIGS. 3 a to 3 c, a third preferred embodiment of the beverage container equipped with a straw according to the invention is illustrated in three different states in sectional views taken along the longitudinal axis of the container. In this case again, the container is a bottle 30 of beverage, within which a straw 34 is arranged so that it can pop up from the bottle 30 automatically when the bottle 30 is being opened. In this embodiment, the neck portion 33 of the bottle 30 is formed as conically tapered, wherein the inner diameter of the mouth 37 of the bottle 30 is substantially equal to the outer diameter of the buoyant member 34 c of the straw 34. In this embodiment, the bottle 30 is preferably closed by a small cap 39 of the snap type that can be snapped off by even one hand. In this embodiment, the means for guiding the straw 34 is the conically tapered neck portion 33 of the bottle 30. The straw 34 can move through the mouth 37 substantially in the same direction as the longitudinal axis of the bottle 30. Anyway, the construction of the straw 34 is similar to which has been applied for the straw 14 and 24 according to the first and second embodiments, respectively.

In FIG. 3 b, the bottle 30 is illustrated in a state in which after the removal of the cap, due to the buoyant force exerted by the liquid in the bottle 30, the straw 34 has been entirely emerged and thus it is staying in its upper end position. In this state, the upper end of the buoyant member 31 c is blocked adjacent to the upper end of the tapered neck portion 33.

In FIG. 3 c, the bottle 30 is illustrated in a state in which due to a decrease of the level of liquid L, the accordion section 34 b of the straw 34 is extended so that a substantially long portion of the upper portion 34 a of the straw 34 projects from the bottle 30.

In the foregoing, the beverage container equipped with a straw according to the invention has been described through three different preferred embodiments. The present invention is, however, not limited to the embodiments as shown. For example, the beverage container may be not only a plastic bottle, but also a glass bottle, a paper container or an aluminum can. For closing the container, several other solutions may be suitable that are well-known in the field of packaging technology. It is to be noted that any modifications of the beverage container equipped with a straw according to the invention are to be understood as included within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims, wherein all of these modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. 

1. A beverage container equipped with a straw, wherein said straw is arranged within the container so that the straw pops up automatically when the container is being opened, said straw comprising a buoyant member and an accordion section above said buoyant member, wherein the beverage container further comprises, at its upper end, a guiding means for guiding the straw, when the container is being opened, substantially in the same direction as the longitudinal axis of the container, said guiding means being further adapted to fix the upper end of the straw in the state of storage of the container and to limit the extent of emersion of the straw.
 2. The beverage container according to claim 1, wherein the guiding means is mounted to the upper opening of the container and comprises a through-hole extending in the same direction as the longitudinal axis of the container and having an inner diameter substantially equal to the outer diameter of the buoyant member of the straw, wherein the length of the through-hole is such that the straw can move in the through-hole substantially in the same direction as the longitudinal axis of the container.
 3. The beverage container according to claim 2, wherein the guiding means is formed as a flat inset permanently fixed to the upper opening of the container.
 4. The beverage container according to claim 3, wherein the through-hole of the guiding means is closed from outside by a sticker, preferably by a sticker that can be re-adhered several times.
 5. The beverage container according to claim 3, wherein the through-hole of the guiding means is closed from outside by a cap, preferably a threaded cap mounted to the container.
 6. The beverage container according to claim 2, wherein the guiding means is formed as a cap, preferably a threaded cap, provided with a through-hole and mounted to the container.
 7. The beverage container according to claim 6, wherein the through-hole of the guiding means is closed from outside by a sticker, preferably by a sticker that can be re-adhered several times.
 8. The beverage container according to claim 1, wherein the guiding means is defined by the conically tapered neck portion of the container, and the diameter of the mouth of the container is substantially equal to the outer diameter of the upper portion of the straw, thus allowing the straw to move substantially in the same direction as the longitudinal axis of the container.
 9. The beverage container according to claim 1, wherein the container is selected from the group of a plastic bottle, a glass bottle, a paper container and an aluminum can.
 10. A straw adapted to pop up automatically from a beverage container, said straw comprising a buoyant member, an upper portion above said buoyant member, an accordion section arranged along the upper portion and suitable for extending in an accordion-like manner, and a lower portion of fixed length arranged underneath the buoyant member, wherein the length of the buoyant member is at least the half, preferably at least the two third of the entire length of the straw having a collapsed accordion section associated with the initial state thereof; and wherein the length of the lower portion is at most 5% of the entire length of the straw associated with the initial state thereof. 